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Shadow Fox
The Shadow Fox is a type of Zoid, a race of mechanical lifeforms from the fictional Zoids universe. Overview The Shadow Fox is a Fox-type Zoid, created specifically by the Helic Republic to support units of Liger Zeroes during the Republic invasion of the Dark Continent of Nyx. A high-speed, medium size Zoid, the Shadow Fox is very fast and agile, and one of the most capable Zoids of its size. The Fox's greatest asset, however, is its stealth systems. The Zoid is equipped with numerous sensor baffles and radar-absorbing material that makes it almost undetectable by most sensors. On top of that, the Zoid is equipped with a sophisticated optical camouflage system that renders it invisible. The Shadow Fox's main ranged weapon is a 30mm Beam Vulcan cannon mounted on a flexible turret on its back. The cannon has a very broad arc of fire, allowing the Fox to attack enemies at almost any angle. The Zoid's other ranged weapon is a rather unusual one; a net launcher mounted in the tail, designed to entangle enemy Zoids. The Zoid mounts one other unusual feature; the Laser Vulcan can be easily removed and replaced with a wide array of other weapons systems. In addition to various Custom Parts, the Fox can also mount weapons from other Zoids, like the Genosaurer's long-range pulse cannons, the Lightning Saix's boosters and beam cannons, the Spino Sapper's chainsaws, the Konig Wolf's Dual Sniper Rifle, or the Gojulas's buster cannon. Battle Story appearances The Shadow Fox was first deployed in ZAC 2101, during the Republic's invasion of the Dark Continent. The Zoid was deployed alongside the Republic's Liger Zeroes, and was initially successful. The Shadow Fox and Liger Zero combination continued to succeed until encountering the Eisen Dragoon Berserk Führer and Grounchar units. The timely arrival of the Republic's Gunbluster Zoids saved them, allowing them to continue with their missions. The Helic Republic later designed an improved version of the Shadow Fox. Known as the Fire Fox, the prototype was stolen by the Neo-Zenebas Empire, and later they put them into limited production. Media appearances Anime New Century Zero The first appearance of the Shadow Fox was in Zoids: New Century Zero episode 20. The Shadow Fox was a prototype Zoid developed for the Backdraft Group by Doctor Laon, and was given to Brad Hunter after the destruction of his Command Wolf AC. Although the other characters mistakenly believed that Brad had joined the Backdraft Group, a loophole in the Zoid Battle Commission's regulations retroactively classified the Shadow Fox as a Blitz Team Zoid. In fact, Brad had never renounced his loyalty to the team and only went to Laon to get the Shadow Fox, using this loophole to ensure his success. Despite that, he still fought the Blitz team before revealing this (liking to do so just for fun), easily defeating the Raynos and Gun Sniper, and was evenly-matched with the Liger Zero Jager before the battle ended. He used it for the rest of the series, helping to defeat the Lightning Team and Naomi Fluegel's Gun Sniper. In the final battle of the series, Brad and his Shadow Fox helped hold off Vega and his Berserk Fury so that Bit could rearm the Liger Zero with its remaining armor. Brad succeeded in his goal, though the legs on the Shadow Fox's right side were blasted off by the Fury in the process. Fuzors In Zoids: Fuzors, Marvis used a Shadow Fox both as a member of the Mach Storm Team and after he escaped from prison. His Shadow Fox was equipped with an energy shield, but, despite this, it was destroyed by Helmut and Sigma's Command Striker in episode 10. He later had it replaced with a Styluarmor. Several other Shadow Foxes appeared as background Zoids in Fuzors, including one with a reversed gold and black color scheme in episode 24. Genesis Two different Shadow Foxes were featured in Zoids: Genesis, colored the same as the gold Shadow Fox in Fuzors. In the series it/they are part of a guerrilla group allied with Ra-Kan's resistance against the Digald Empire. The Shadow Fox appears to be less technically capable than the New Century Zero or Fuzors versions. Video Games Like most other Zoids, Shadow Fox was featured in both the Zoids Saga and Zoids VS series of games. In Zoids VS, an upgrade called "Shadow Fox S" was available for purchase. This version had better overall stats and was described as "Shadow Team's Zoid". The electromagnetic net gun is featured as a beam gun of sorts, firing with the same animation as Dark Spiner's jamming blade. Trading Cards The Shadow Fox was featured as part of the Zoids Scramble release of Zoids Trading Cards. Models New Japanese Release *Assembly required. (Snap-together, no glue needed. Scissors or X-acto knife recommended for trimming off excess plastic bits.) *The model's colours are primarily moulded into the plastic, and it does not need any paint. Some pieces come pre-painted. The Shadow Fox kit comes on six sprues, along with the wind-up motor, orange cockpit 'eyes', 24 rubber caps, two gears, a label sheet and a pilot figure. The Shadow Fox is moulded in grey/silver, black, and metallic blue, with gold and metallic grey details painted on. The Zoid's construction is relatively simple; slightly more complex than the Command Wolf. The Zoid uses a wind-up motor for movement; once the Zoid is activated it slowly walks forwards. The Zoid's head can be manually positioned, the jaw opened and closed and the Vulcan cannon can be elevated and rotated. A gearing mechanism on the side of the cannon can also be used to rotate the barrels. The main feature of the Zoid is that the back mounted weapons rack carries a variety of pegs in different widths, allowing a wide range of weapons from other Zoids to be mounted. The rack has three standard-sized pegs, as well as a large-sized peg and a square hole. The latter allows the mounting of the battery packs from several other Zoids, such as the Lightning Saix, Berserk Führer and Death Stinger. The Shadow Fox was released in 2000, with production continuing until 2004. A chromed version was released by Leoshop of Taiwan. New American Release The Shadow Fox was released in the US by Hasbro as a part of the New American Release, as a Toys "R" Us exclusive. This version had a slight mould change, in that the end of the key to the Zoid's wind-up motor was rounded off. This mould change was carried forwards to all subsequent versions, as well as later runs of the New Japanese Release. The Shadow fox was featured as part of the Hasbro Action Figures line. Instead of its signature 30mm Gatling gun, it featured a 4-barreled rocket launcher, so that it could actually fire the missiles. The legs were poseable and the gun could be pointed in any direction. The Zoid was also released as a part of the New Pacific Release in similar packaging. This version was a general release. Fire Fox A limited edition version of the Shadow Fox was released as part of the 'Yuji Kaida' series in 2003, named the Fire Fox. The main changes concerning this Zoid revolved around the fact that the Fire Fox was stolen from the Helic Republic by the Neo-Zenebas Empire. The Zoid was moulded in red, gold and silver, had green cockpit 'eyes', contained an altered label sheet (that designated it as EZ-046 instead of RZ-046 to reflect the faction change), and included a blue Imperial pilot. There were no mould changes, except for continuing with the remoulded key. New English Release The Shadow Fox was planned for release as a part of the New English Release, however it likely did not reach full production before the line was canceled. Examples have been found for sale on eBay. Category:Zoids Category:Helic Republic Zoids